God's mercies through a veil of tears

Really touched by this video -->Scott Hamilton

Quality Time?

"There is no such thing as [scheduled] quality time. You never know with your spouse or with your kids when the quality time is going to be. So it's a lot of quantity time, and then some of that time becomes quality time because the conversation opens up and the heart opens up. But, you can't schedule that - Tuesday 3:15-:3:45 we're going to have earnest, heartfelt communication."

- Mark Driscoll

111...

...the number of laps our son ran around a make shift "track" between our kitchen and living room.  To encourage our little marathon runner into a deep and restful 12 hours of slumber tonight, my clever bride decided to host a 'track event.'    The object being to see how many laps he could run... 111.   And as for a good night of sleep, it worked like a charm; he only needed 11.1 seconds after crossing the tape to sail blissfully off to a somnolent dreamland!   

新年快乐！

The Ways of God

"The ways of God are counterintuitive...true spirituality is not what we might think. God sent Isaiah to us with an improbable message. This prophet came saying that our only hope is in abandoning every other hope, however obvious. And our only truth is in disbelieving every other truth, however widely accepted. Our only safety is in trust. Our only stability is in yielding control. Our only freedom is in surrender. God is saying that the conventional wisdom of our culture that magnifies human potential and human virtue and human smarts is stupid. He is saying that the inner fullness we all desire comes from outside ourselves. He is saying that our initial reaction to real spirituality might be irritation and disbelief. God directs our eyes to a bloodied mass of human flesh, a man beaten beyond recognition, rejected by the elites and opinion shapers and even the religious leaders, a man suffering on the cross out of love for us, and God says He is the giver of the Spirit and that cross is the secret to authentic spirituality.

- Ray Ortlund Jr., The Counterintuitive Ways of God

The Gentle Slope

Indeed the safest road to hell is the gradual one – the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

- CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Through the LORD's mercies

"This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!”  The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.  It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.  It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth. Let him sit alone and keep silent, because God has laid it on him";
[Lamentations 3:21-28]

Philippians 3

Postmodern Art

Really captivated by a radio lecture regarding Postmodern thought by Dr. Albert Mohler Jr. -->  Postmodernism & Society.    I especially found the discussion on Postmodern Art to be fascinating.    While I have generally dispelled the notion that art is in some broad sense a barometer for the thought of a society, Dr. Mohler makes a pretty striking case that postmodern art is reflective of the pervasive thinking of our day.   

It reminded me of an interesting (and funny) documentary I saw a number of years ago:  Who the *$&% Is Jackson Pollock?    And all this discussion on what makes art interesting and the more important question regarding the nature of truth sparked a thought:  perhaps there really are zillions of dollars my wife and I are leaving on the table by withholding our children's 'brilliant' (and I mean brilliant) creations from the world...     Though unlike Postmodern works, I suppose that my kids would claim with all the vigor and angst of a 2 and 3 year old, that their creations do indeed tell an integrated story - which may not be good for business.